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Rory Gallagher The Beat Club Sessions Review by Gary Hill Here we have a disc of live recordings from Rory Gallagher. As one might expect, there is a good deal of blues on show here, but there are other sounds, too. It’s a great live recording of an excellent artist. Rory Gallagher might not be a household name, but he is legendary among those in the know. And the acclaim is well-deserved. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 6 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Laundromat The disc is opened by a riff dominated bluesy rocker that’s a little raw. The guitar soloing is quite tasty and there are several extended sections of it.

Hands Up There is still blues on this, but it’s more pure rock, too. It’s a killer tune that works through some intriguing changes. There is once more some extensive guitar soloing.

Sinnerboy A slide blues guitar based cut, this is a real screamer. It’s very old school, down home.

Just The Smile This is more pure rock and based in an acoustic guitar dominated motif. It’s a great tune.

I Don't Know Where I Am Going Here we get another acoustic balladic number. It’s tasty and quite folk-like. Comparisons to Bob Dylan, particularly with the harmonica soloing, would be appropriate.

I Could've Had Religion The electricity is turned on again here. This bluesy rocker is a slide guitar work-out and a real screamer. It’s a slow blues, but quite a cool one.

Used To Be This is much more of a real rocker than some of the other stuff here. Sure, there is still blues on show, but I’d consider this to be closer to the bluesy side of Led Zeppelin than to authentic blues.

In Your Town More blues in nature, this reminds me of something George Thorogood might do. It’s a real smoker.

Should've Learned My Lesson This cut definitely falls into the old school, down home blues type of sound. It’s a great tune. The guitar soloing on this is among the best of the whole album.

Crest Of A Wave The album is definitely building at this point. This powerhouse is one of the highlights of the set. Not only does it contain some of the most fiery guitar soloing, but the song itself is a real screamer.

Toredown Imagine CCR with a real hard edged, electric blues sound. It would probably feel something like this. Of course, since a number of blues artists have done this track over the years (including Stevie Ray Vaughan), it will feel familiar. It’s another highlight of the set.

Messin' With The Kid A real hard rocking number, this feels very bluesy. There’s an extended bass solo in the middle of the track, and it’s quite cool. It also includes some smoking hot guitar soloing.

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